Sunday, September 24, 2006

"But At Least I Tried"

Maybe it was just nostalgia for a president who -- whatever one thought of him personally or politically -- was at least in command of the issues and could make coherent arguments. But I thought Bill Clinton made Fox's Chris Wallace look like a pimply, amateurish teenager doing an interview for a high school newspaper. Fox seems to have a way of doing that to the erstwhile serious journalists it hires.

9 Comments:

Couldn't agree with you more. And it was a joy to see someone actually confront a Fox anchor trying to use the usual tactic of "spinning via question" with some hard, harsh truths.

What is most interesting now is how -- even in the face of the sheer and, at times, terrifying incompetence of this administration -- how unflagging Fox is in its support. These guys are willing to deny what is right before their eyes.....they are willing to look past the hordes in government now turning on the administration speaking out. They just don't give up...no matter how bad the administration's "mistake 'o the day' is....

None of them seem to realize that when george takes us completely over the cliff, they're on the bus too....

I think Surfer843's comment and TCRs comment about how Fox reporters turn into amateurish teenagers, may actually be related. As we should all know by now, modern conservatism is an authority-driven culture, and so it wouldn't surprise me if the entire staff at Fox (except for the name-brand "authorities" such as O'Reilly) are brought to heel with crushing force like recruits at boot camp. Plus, whatever you think of Bill Clinton, he was the President at one point, so there's a certain authority inherent in that. Maybe Chris Wallace was ordered to "spin" the questions he asked Bill, but he still had to battle his own conservative instinctive fear and deference towards authority.

Which is why Fox News in general, slavishly applauds the Bush so-called Administration: they offer jabs and critiques here and there, but at the end of the day, they stand with the [Republican] President, right or wrong, no matter what happens to the country as a result. Because anything else would lead to moral chaos.

[With a Democratic President, it's a different story, because it can be assumed that following the D-Pres.' orders will be bad for the country at all times. Because it can safely be assumed, by Fox, that Democrats inherently don't understand Discipline and Authority and thus will make mistakes and abuse their power.]

democracy is the most wondeful thing...its when millions of people freely pick a few to represent them...absolutely necessary this...there would be chaos otherwise of course...use diebold...spreading freedom around the world...

Keith Olbermann had it just right when he showed video of Fox talking heads attacking Clinton for his anger and vitriol. Of course, they had nothing to say about the validity of the substance of his remarks. More Spin, Spin, Spin.

Bill Clinton rocked overall. He could be criticized for a few over the top remarks about the smirk etc, but he set the record straight for everyone to see.

Condoleeza Rice's pathetic denial of having received a comprehensive plan by the Clinton White House from Richard Clarke was eviscerated by Keith Olbermann tonite. More Deny, Deny, Deny and Lie, Lie, Lie. Videos don't lie. Thanks to Keith Olbermann and his brilliant staff, the truth comes out so vividly.